Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress

Do you know what baseball managers and presidents have in common? People think that they have way more control over what happens than they actually do. It’s easy to give someone all of the blame or credit, but it’s almost never that simple. If you’d like to learn more about just how important the President (either the office or any one of the individuals who has held the office) is, you’ll want to read up on the research put out by the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress. They’re a Washington, DC based nonpartisan non-profit “organization that systematically examines past successes and failures of the Presidency and relates its findings to present challenges and opportunities.” They organization started in 1965 as the Library of the Presidential Papers, and took on its current name in 1969.

Challenges and Opportunities

There’s no better way to get started learning about the CSPC than diving into their publications. The main one to focus on is probably Presidential Studies Quarterly. You’ll find that most of the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress’ research is focused on a few specific issues: Presidential Transitions, Foreign Policy and Geo-economics, Religion and the American Experience, Civility and the American Experience, Lessons of History, Homeland Security, Science and Technology, Health and Medicine, Energy and the Environment, and Congressional Relations. The organizations hope is that “by drawing on experts from government, academia, and industry” they’ll be able to help “develop solutions to these challenges and to educate and inspire leaders of tomorrow.” If you’d like to be a part of that, take a look at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress’ job postings on Idealist. While they’re big on internships, the only position they have posted right now is for a Part-Time Office Coordinator and Receptionist. It looks like a good way to get your foot in the door, so check it out.